I have a simple C project which warps a x64 MASM project. When this builds in Release configuration the resulting dll still references VCRUNTIME140D.dll and VCRUNTIME140_1D.dll which I understand are debug versions of the runtime. This is causing a The specified module could not be found. (0x8007007E) error when run on a machine with the normal runtime installed.

What do I need to change to build against the release runtime?

The definition group for Release|x64 looks like this:

  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'" Label="Configuration">
    <ConfigurationType>DynamicLibrary</ConfigurationType>
    <UseDebugLibraries>false</UseDebugLibraries>
    <PlatformToolset>v143</PlatformToolset>
    <WholeProgramOptimization>true</WholeProgramOptimization>
    <CharacterSet>Unicode</CharacterSet>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
    <ClCompile>
      <WarningLevel>Level3</WarningLevel>
      <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
      <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
      <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
      <PreprocessorDefinitions>EMULATORCODE_EXPORTS;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
      <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
      <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
      <PrecompiledHeaderFile>pch.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
      <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
      <RemoveUnreferencedCodeData>false</RemoveUnreferencedCodeData>
    </ClCompile>
    <Link>
      <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
      <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
      <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
      <GenerateDebugInformation>false</GenerateDebugInformation>
      <EnableUAC>false</EnableUAC>
    </Link>
    <CustomBuild>
      <Command>echo</Command>
    </CustomBuild>
  </ItemDefinitionGroup>

With the commandline msbuild "EmulatorCore.vcxproj" /p:configuration=Release /p:platform=x64 , the output is as follows:

MSBuild version 17.8.5+b5265ef37 for .NET Framework
Build started 11/05/2024 15:27:41.

Project "EmulatorCore.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets).
PrepareForBuild:
  Structured output is enabled. The formatting of compiler diagnostics will reflect the error hierarchy. See https://aka.ms/cpp/structured-output for more details.
InitializeBuildStatus:
  Creating "x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.tlogunsuccessfulbuild" because "AlwaysCreate" was specified.
  Touching "x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.tlogunsuccessfulbuild".
CustomBuild:
  Performing Custom Build Tools
  Microsoft (R) Macro Assembler (x64) Version 14.38.33134.0
  Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

   Assembling: core.asm
ClCompile:
  C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio2022CommunityVCToolsMSVC14.38.33130binHostX64x64CL.exe /c /Zi /nologo /W3 /WX- /diagnostics:column /sdl /Od /Oi /GL /D EMULATORCODE_EXPORTS /D _WINDOWS /D _USRDLL /D _WINDLL /D _UNICODE /D UNICODE /Gm- /EHsc /MD /GS /Gy /fp:precise /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /pe
  rmissive- /Yc"pch.h" /Fp"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.pch" /Fo"x64Release\" /Fd"x64Releasevc143.pdb" /external:W3 /Gd /TP /FC /errorReport:queue pch.cpp
  pch.cpp
  C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio2022CommunityVCToolsMSVC14.38.33130binHostX64x64CL.exe /c /Zi /nologo /W3 /WX- /diagnostics:column /sdl /Od /Oi /GL /D EMULATORCODE_EXPORTS /D _WINDOWS /D _USRDLL /D _WINDLL /D _UNICODE /D UNICODE /Gm- /EHsc /MD /GS /Gy /fp:precise /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /pe
  rmissive- /Yu"pch.h" /Fp"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.pch" /Fo"x64Release\" /Fd"x64Releasevc143.pdb" /external:W3 /Gd /TP /FC /errorReport:queue EmulatorCore.cpp dllmain.cpp ym_wrapper.cpp
  EmulatorCore.cpp
  dllmain.cpp
  ym_wrapper.cpp
Link:
  C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio2022CommunityVCToolsMSVC14.38.33130binHostX64x64link.exe /ERRORREPORT:QUEUE /OUT:"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.dll" /NOLOGO kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib odbc32.lib odbccp32.lib
   /MANIFEST /MANIFESTUAC:NO /manifest:embed /PDB:"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS /OPT:REF /OPT:ICF /LTCG:incremental /LTCGOUT:"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.iobj" /TLBID:1 /DYNAMICBASE /NXCOMPAT /IMPLIB:"x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.lib" /MACHINE:X64 /DLL x64Releasecore.obj
  x64Releasedllmain.obj
  x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.obj
  x64Releasepch.obj
  x64Releaseym_wrapper.obj
     Creating library x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.lib and object x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.exp
LINK : warning LNK4098: defaultlib 'MSVCRT' conflicts with use of other libs; use /NODEFAULTLIB:library [EmulatorCore.vcxproj]
  Generating code
  Previous IPDB not found, fall back to full compilation.
  All 317 functions were compiled because no usable IPDB/IOBJ from previous compilation was found.
  Finished generating code
  EmulatorCore.vcxproj -> x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.dll
FinalizeBuildStatus:
  Deleting file "x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.tlogunsuccessfulbuild".
  Touching "x64ReleaseEmulatorCore.tlogEmulatorCore.lastbuildstate".
Done Building Project "EmulatorCore.vcxproj" (default targets).

But I still get the debug dependencies:

Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.38.33134.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.


Dump of file emulatorcore.dll

File Type: DLL

  Image has the following dependencies:

    MSVCP140.dll
    VCRUNTIME140_1D.dll
    VCRUNTIME140D.dll
    ucrtbased.dll
    KERNEL32.dll